Hope Christian Church

Summer Sunday School

Starting June 26th
Time: 9:00am - 9:45am

Topic: A
Study
of
the
Prayers
in
the New Testament Epistles

FORMAT:

15 minutes
20 minutes
10 minutes

Fellowship/prayer
Discussion Oriented Teaching
Prayer

There are two kinds of prayer -
Telling God and Asking God.
Praise, Thanksgiving, even Confession all involve tell God stuff. Stuff
about Himself. Stuff about what He as done. And Stuff about what is
true about ourselves.

Supplication and Intercession involve asking God for stuff, either for
ourselves or on behalf of others

Asking and Telling are both elements of prayer.

1Peter 1:3-5 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth
into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, and
into an inheritance
that can never perish, spoil or fade— kept in heaven for you,
who
through faith are shielded by God’s power
until
the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

This is a prayer, but doesn't involve
any
requests. What in particular is he praising God for? (His Mercy)
Because I'm going
to ask you to incorporate what you find into our prayer time.

xrefs:

Titus 3:3-7At
one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all
kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being
hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our
Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had
done, but because of his mercy.
He saved us through the washing of
rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us
generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been
justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of
eternal life.

2Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!Now here's an example largely
involving asking for stuff.

Eph 1:13,14And you also were included in Christ
when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having
believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of
those who are God’s possession— to the praise of his glory.

Here is a prayer that involves requests.

Eph 3:16-21 (NKJV)that He would grant you, according
to the riches of His glory,

to be strengthened with
might through His Spirit in the inner man,

that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith;

that you,
being rooted and grounded in love,

may be able to comprehend with all the saints

what is the width and length and depth and height——

to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;

that you may be filled
with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him
who is able
to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according
to the power that works in us,
to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen.

What is he asking for?

(Conviction => Submission => Revelation => Transformation)
What examples in scriptures do we have of these links?

xrefs:

1. Belief results in obedience

Rom 1:5; James 1:21-25

2. Obedience results in understanding

John 14:21; Ps 119:100

3. Understanding results in Transformation

Col 1:9-12;1John 3:2,3; Job 28:28

PRAY CONCERNING GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Just prior to entering the Garden of Gethsemane from which he was
taken to judgment, we have a record of Jesus' prayer in John 17.
One of the outstanding aspects of his prayer was him speaking of his
accomplishments - as if debriefing his Father concerning the mission on
which he had been sent. The following is a listing of the
accomplishments he mentioned:

John 17:vs 4 I glorified you on the earthvs 4 I have accomplished the work which you
have given me to do.vs 6 I revealed your name to the people
whom you have given me out of the world.vs 9 I pray for them.vs 12 I protected them and kept them safevs 14 I have given them your wordvs 18 I have sent them into the worldvs 22 I have given them the glory that you
gave mevs 26 I have made known to them your name

Notice the verbs. What aspects of these accomplishments can we
incorporate in our prayer time?

"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus
did."1John 2:6 So consider among these, what work God
has given you to do; what responsibilities has he laid upon you as his
servant and what he expects you to accomplish such that at the end of
your life you may say, "I have accomplished the
work which you have given me to do.", and that on the judgment
day he may say to you, "Well done, good and
faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put
you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!" Mt
25:21

"For we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the
things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we
know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men." 2Cor
5:10,11a